Corsair announced Monday that it has agreed to acquire Drop, a leading maker of keyboards and other personalized peripherals. The market for bespoke hardware is growing these days, as many gamers want peripherals with a distinctive look and the ability to change the parts themselves. Corsair is particularly interested in Drop’s keyboard related assets.
”Consumer-modifiable personalized keyboards are one of the fastest growing trends in the gaming peripheral space,” said Corsair founder and CEO Andy Paul. We expect to grow the Drop brand significantly around the world. We are also pleased to offer specialty Corsair and Elgato products to the enthusiast community Drop is engaged with.”
Drop (formerly known as Massdrop) specializes in manufacturing a variety of personalized peripherals, mainly focusing on custom-made DIY keyboards, aftermarket keycaps and desktop accessories. The company often collaborates with other hardware manufacturers to build customized peripherals designed with input from the community. For example, the company has partnered with Sennheiser, Epos and even Focal (a maker of ultra-luxury headphones) on audio equipment. An interesting detail about these collaborations is that the final products were cheaper than those traditionally produced by Sennheiser, Epos or Focal.
In addition, Drop recently expanded its product line to include “battlestation” items that represent a wide variety of items used by gamers, starting with stands, chargers and cables, all the way up to light bars, carrying cases and air dusters. Now
Drop’s past collaborations have included licensed keycaps The Lord of the Rings and Marvel Infinity Saga, with the Drop community actively choosing new color schemes, designs and in-demand styles. .
”“Corsair is the ideal partner to help Drop drop grow and continue to achieve its purpose of building great, community-driven products,” said Jef Holove, CEO of Drop. It’s now widely available and faster, while maintaining the enthusiast-driven product development that millions of fans rely on Drop for their setups and hardware.”
Drop will maintain a separate brand identity under the Corsair umbrella. Additionally, the Drop team handles all ongoing warranty, purchase, and customer service inquiries.
